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ISSUE#002
SCENT- SATIONAL ROUTINES The power of scent to improve your day and night
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S cent is a powerful way in which we experience the world. We build connections with our sense of smell all the time, just as we do with all of our senses. When we take in a fragrance, the odour molecules race through our systems, firing up key parts of the brain. Our amygdala is the part of our brain that processes emotions, and is part of our olfactory system. For thousands of years, cultures around the world have used fragrant materials for aromatherapy to affect mood and state of mind through scent. We also intrinsically encode the smells in our environment as part of our wider memories. Sometimes this can be a smell linked to a particular memory, like the smell of the orange blossom from your childhood garden, or the perfume you wore on your wedding day. But we also begin to associate everyday activities with the smells we encounter regularly—the smell of toothpaste in the morning or the pillow spray you spritz before you go to bed. Every habit starts with a cue. We can use fragrance to recall these everyday memories and how we felt at the time, making scent a powerful tool in building routines that support our natural cycle of sleepiness and wakefulness. Finding the right fragrances to wake you up or soothe you to sleep can be a wonderful way to weave scent into your every day. Here, our own Lush fragrance experts share what works for them.
Emma’s PM routine Here’s how our perfumer, Emma Vincent, ensures a peaceful night’s sleep in the Vincent household.
1. Twilight Body Spray “I actually use this as a room spray in my children’s rooms. I go in an hour before bedtime and pump a few sprays into their room and have noticed they either settle a little quicker to sleep, or have less broken sleep.” 2. Deep Sleep Magnesium Massage Bar “This is the newest Lush product I’ve been loving. I began using it as I would often get restless and swollen legs, especially if I’ve been on my feet all day. Once I’ve rubbed it into my calves, I rub it into my forearms and hands as well so the strong lavender scent sits with me for some time before I go to bed.” 3. Sleepy Body Lotion “This was my go-to toddler body cream as it is mild enough on their skin, and became part of the ‘sleep’ routine we did after bathing, gently moisturising, and getting us all settled down for the evening. I used this religiously 2-3 times a week from ages 1-4 to get through all the teething and regressions they go through at that time.”
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